You Have Control Over Employee Work/Life Balance--If Not Your Own (Part 1 of 3)

Joe Wynne is a versatile Project Manager experienced in delivering medium-scope projects in large organizations that improve workforce performance and business processes. He has a proven track record of delivering effective, technology-savvy solutions in a variety of industries and a unique combination of strengths in both process management and workforce management.

 

Alex, a normally sedate employee in your project, angrily registers a complaint, "For the fourth time, I'm staying late to help out Lin, who had to leave unexpectedly to pick up her sick kid." Meanwhile, Roger sits at his desk like he has been hypnotized to mimic a stone. You hear he has been having difficulty sleeping.

These example incidents are not only frustrating for you, but could be symptoms of something serious, and ignoring these signs will allow the problem to get worse.

Business Needs Over Worker Needs
Studies continue to pound home the importance of work/life balance to workforce satisfaction and productivity. A recent report shows stress-related injuries, causing chronic physical and psychological effects and a fair amount of litigation, continue to increase, and--even though they make up a minority of claims--they are the most costly type of claim. Stress is the handle on the plug that lets company dollars and work productivity down the drain.

So you may well ask if there is anything you can do to improve the work/life balance in your workforce, given that you suffer as well from the stress of all those who work with you. It's true that HR handles much of compensation and benefits, but it is not inadequacies in classic compensation and benefits that are behind the stress problem for the most part. You actually have a …

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.